#jerry fogle

Cirith Ungol: One Foot in Hell (1986)

Never the most widely known of heavy metal bands to begin with (although surely one of the most instantly recognizable) Ventura, CA's Cirith Ungol were living on borrowed time by the release of their third album, One Foot in Hell, 40 years ago.

Whereas 1981's Frost and Fire would go down as a bona fide American castle metal classic and '84's King of the Dead offered its fair share of worthy material -- as sonically distinctive as it was hopelessly uncommercial -- this LP from '86 sounded just plain tired.

And hopelessly old-fashioned (remember Cirith Ungol's roots dated to the early '70s!), which proved to be the kiss of death for most forward-thinking '80s metal-heads, drunk on a genre that had exploded into the mainstream with a seemingly infinite variety of new bands and styles.

Piss-poor production, lacking in depth and dynamics, certainly didn't help matters; saddling unusually energetic gallops like "Blood and Iron" and "100 M.P.H." with a thin, anemic mix that could hardly compete with the muscular thrash recordings of the period.

These same issues also afflict plodding efforts like "The Fire" and "Doomed Planet," which exposed singer Tim Baker -- always an acquired taste -- to increasing criticism as his strangled rasps and shrieks had been demoted, over the years, from lovable curiosity to professional liability.

Note how on the Michael Moorcock-inspired "Nadsokor" (named after the fictional "City of Beggars" in his dark fantasy Elric of Melniboné saga), Baker's contributions are rendered ghostlike, almost unintelligible, they're buried so deep in the mix.

So the responsibility for rescuing Cirith Ungol's latest "quest" fell largely on the shoulders of guitarist Jerry Fogle, who fought through these sonic constraints to deliver some of his most inspired, epic, classically-inspired solos -- particularly on "War Eternal."

And just when you least expect it, the dark, weird alchemy of Cirith Ungol (completed by bassist Michael 'Flint' Vujea and drummer Robert Garven) is rekindled for the title track's foreboding staccato riffs and the irresistible, dual-paced highlight, "Chaos Descends."

Now, if you think I'm being too harsh, know that I was even harsher in this old All-Music Guide review of One Foot in Hell; but what sounded terribly archaic next to metallic trends in in 1986, inevitably projects a desirable "vintage" quality for nostalgic metal heads today.

However, belated reappraisals obviously did Cirith Ungol no good 40 years ago, and the band's already cult-level stature continued on its steep and irreversible slide towards an ignoble and almost unheralded demise five years later.

1981. Frost and Fire

is the debut album by band Cirith Ungol. Its music is generally faster and more simplistic than that of King of the Dead, which saw the band begin to adopt a doom metal style influenced heavily by power metal. artwork by Michael Whelan.

This is masterpiece, and great start to a highly underrated & overlooked band this is classic eighty's metal Right up there with Manilla Road, Iron Maiden Fates Warning, omen. Highly recommended.

Cirith Ungol 03 Master Of The Pit

1984. King of the Dead

Cirith Ungol 01 Atom Smasher

1984. King of the Dead

1984. King of the Dead

is the second album by band Cirith Ungol. It was self-produced by the band and released in July.

Band member Robert Garven declared in an interview:

"King of the Dead was our best album, the reason was that we had total control over it. Every album could have been this good if we could have exercised complete control over its production and other things. This is the album which I feel is our best effort. The reason the long wait between albums is because when you are FINANCING them yourselves, you have to come up with the money to pay for things like studio time. Plus being on all these independent labels their time tables are slower. I also did all the layout and design of the first three covers, all this while we were all working full time trying to sponsor the dream."

Guitarist Greg Lindstrom, who left the band in 1982, two years before the release of this album, said:

"'Atom Smasher,' 'Cirith Ungol' and 'Death of the Sun' were all songs we had written together in the mid 70's, and 'Finger of Scorn' was one of my songs that the band used with my blessing."

Another Michael Moorcock-inspired drawing acts as the album's cover: it is entitled "King of the Dead" and was painted by Michael Whelan.

Cirith Ungol are unsung dinosaurs in the metal scene, and this is probably their best known album, King of the Dead is a dark and primitive, yet also very catchy and fun, listen. This album sound more like 70's than anything else.